Travel Cup

ABSTRACT

A travel receptacle comprising a receptacle for holding a liquid and a lid for selectively closing the receptacle. The lid includes a first piece for engaging the top of the receptacle, the first piece having an impermeable portion which blocks the passage of the liquid therethrough and a first opening for allowing the passage of the liquid therethrough; and a second piece having an impermeable portion which blocks the passage of the liquid therethrough and a second opening for allowing the passage of the liquid therethrough. At least one of the first piece and the second piece is movable with respect to the other, between an open position in which the first and second openings align to allow passage of the liquid therethrough and a closed position in which the first and second openings are not aligned, thereby blocking passage of the liquid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

This application is directed to a cup for use in holding a liquid whiletravelling.

2. Description of the Related Art

Travel cups are well-known and take many forms. Commonly, such cups havea two-piece construction: a large lower receptacle for holding a liquid,and a lid for securing to the lower receptacle and preventing spillagewhile the user is moving. Such cups work generally fine, but do sufferfrom some common drawbacks.

For example, some known cups have tops which are difficult to attach tothe receptacle, and often do not seal properly. Others do not sealcompletely. For example, they offer a restricted opening in the top ofthe lid to limit the possibility of spillage, but this makes itdifficult to drink from and also may not completely avoid spillage whilein motion.

Another drawback of some travel cups which do seal the lid morecompletely, is that the lid may be difficult or cumbersome to open,particularly while travelling, and/or be difficult to hold if containinga hot beverage. For example, the travel cups shown by U.S. Pat. No.8,833,587 and United States Published Patent Application No.2016/0107808, include a resealable lid which utilizes a resealable plugfor closing the drinking opening. However, such plugs are notoriouslydifficult to open easily, as they require the use of two hands: one togrip the cup, and the other to grip the plug with just the finger tips.

For travel cups which may have better seals, the locking mechanism maybe on the exterior of the cup, lending it to interference or inadvertentactivation, or be particularly complicated so that it may be difficultto maintain.

There is therefore a need in the art for a simple, easy-to-clean and-operate travel cup which offers improved performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improvedtravel cup which is easy-to-use, easy-to-clean and easy-to-operate.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, an improvedtravel cup in accordance with the invention comprises a receptacle forholding a liquid and a lid for selectively closing the receptacle. Thelid includes a first piece for engaging the top of the receptacle, thefirst piece having an impermeable portion which blocks the passage ofthe liquid therethrough and a first opening for allowing the passage ofthe liquid therethrough; and a second piece having an impermeableportion which blocks the passage of the liquid therethrough and a secondopening for allowing the passage of the liquid therethrough. At leastone of the first piece and the second piece is movable with respect tothe other, between an open position in which the first and secondopenings align to allow passage of the liquid therethrough and a closedposition in which the first and second openings are not aligned, therebyblocking passage of the liquid.

In accordance with a further refinement of the invention, the firstpiece further includes a third opening for allowing the return passagetherethrough of air when liquid passes through said first opening, thesecond piece further includes a fourth opening for allowing the returnpassage therethrough of air when liquid passes through said secondopening; and the third and fourth openings are positioned to align whenthe first and second pieces are in the open position and are out ofalignment when the first and second pieces are in the closed position.

In accordance with a still further refinement of the invention, thereceptacle further includes a band removably attachable to the exteriorthereof. In this refinement, the band extends downwardly from the opentop thereof, to permit the gripping of the band by a user without theuser directly contacting the exterior of the receptacle.

In accordance with a still further refinement of the invention, at leastone of the first and second pieces includes a barrier which extends froma side of the at least one of said first and second pieces towards theother of the first and second pieces and contacts a side of the other ofthe first and second pieces which faces the side of the at least one ofthe first and second pieces from which it extends, and is configured soas to provide a seal against leakage of the liquid from the firstopening to the second opening when the first and second openings are notaligned.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description of the presently preferredembodiments, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solelyfor purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits ofthe invention, for which reference should be made to the appendedclaims. It should be further understood that the drawings are notnecessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, theyare merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures andprocedures described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective of a travel cup in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective of a first piece of a lid in accordance withthe invention;

FIG. 3 shows a second perspective of the first piece of the lid shown inFIG. 2, from the opposite perspective as FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective of the lower surface of a second piece of alid in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 shows an exploded perspective of the lower surfaces of the firstpiece shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the second piece shown in FIG. 3,showing how they align;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective of the first and second pieces of the lidshown in FIGS. 2-5 in combination in their open position; and

FIG. 7 shows a perspective of the first and second pieces of the lidshown in FIGS. 2-5 in combination in their closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an inventive travel cup, generally at 10. Travel cup 10includes a two-piece receptacle 12, and a two-piece lid 14. Receptacle12 includes a cup 16 and a band 18. Cup 16 is preferably generallycylindrical in shape about an axis 20, and is preferably made oftempered glass, with a flat bottom surface 22 and an electroplatedcopper base 24. Bottom surface 22 closes the bottom of cylindricallyshaped cup 16, so that cup 16 may hold a liquid to be consumed by theuser. Bottom surface 22 and the cylindrical sidewalls of cup 16 definean interior of cup 16. Cup 16 further includes a lower portion 26, ashoulder 28 and an upper reduced portion 30. Shoulder 28 joins lowerportion 26 and upper portion 30. Cup 16 includes an opening 32 allowingaccess to the interior of cup 16.

Band 18 is also generally cylindrically shaped in cross-section, aboutthe same axis 20. Band 18 is preferably made of platinum silicone, whichis thermally insulating and which also has a slightly tacky feel to it,to provide for a good grip. Band 18 is further sized and configured toattach to upper portion 30 of cup 16 via a friction fit, but ispreferably removable therefrom to allow for cleaning of both cup 16 andband 18. Band 18 includes a lower end 34 which is configured to abutshoulder 28, allowing ease of placement of band 18 about upper portion30 of cup 16. Band 18 further includes an upper lip 36 which defines anopening 38 for allowing access to the interior of cup 16 when band 18 isin place.

Lid 14 is made up of a first, lower, piece 40 (shown more clearly inFIGS. 2 and 3) and a second, upper, piece 42 (shown in more detail inFIG. 3). Both first and second pieces 40 and 42 have generally circularcross-sections, using the same axis 20 as the remaining components oftravel cup 10, and are preferably made of Polypropylene—BPA Free, #5Recyclable. This material is dishwasher safe and easy to clean and carefor, so that each of the components of travel cup 10 may be cleaned in adishwasher with no adverse consequences. Lower piece 40 includes a lowerend 44 which defines an opening 46 and is sized to fit snugly over upperlip 36 of band 18 by friction fit.

The construction of lower piece 40 may be best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3,which show opposing perspective views thereof. Lower piece 40 includes aside wall 48 having a generally circular cross-section, centered on axis20 (FIG. 1), and a top wall 50. Top wall 50 is impermeable to thepassage of liquid therethrough, except through any openings therein.With this in mind, lower piece 40 includes a (preferably) generallytriangular drinking opening 52, and an air opening 54 for the returnpassage of air therethrough when the user is drinking (as will beexplained presently). Lower piece 40 further includes a locking opening56 defined by a lip 58. Side wall 48 preferably includes at least onerecess 60. As seen in FIG. 3 (and best in FIG. 5), lower end 44 is notof an even extent about the circumference of side wall 48, and includesa tab 62. Lower piece 40 further includes a barrier 64, preferably madeof a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). Barrier 64 prevents the undesiredside-flow of liquid when the user is drinking, and therefore preferablyextends about both drinking opening 52, and air opening 54, as well asin other areas on top wall 50. In a preferred embodiment, barrier 64 islocated in a channel (not shown) in top wall 50 for ease of manufacture.Further structural details of the underside of lower piece 40 will bedescribed below in relation to FIG. 5.

Returning briefly to FIG. 1, upper piece 42 includes a generallycircular side wall 66, centered on axis 20, and a generally flat andimpermeable top wall 68. To allow for the passage of liquid and returnair, top wall 68 includes a generally triangular drinking opening 70 andan air opening 72. Drinking opening 70 in upper piece 42 and drinkingopening 52 in lower piece 40 are sized to be complementary to permit theuser to drink through the two drinking openings 52, 70 when they arealigned Likewise, air opening 72 in upper piece 42 is sized to align andcomplement air opening in 54 in lower piece 40, and is positioned sothat, when the two drinking openings 52, 70 are aligned, the two airopening 54, 72 are also aligned.

Referring now to FIG. 4, upper piece 42 further includes a downwardlyprojecting (appearing upwardly projecting in FIG. 4, since FIG. 4 showsthe underside of upper piece 42) locking post 74 which is configured tomate with locking opening 56 in lower piece 40. To this end, lockingpost 74 includes a generally circular (centered on axis 20—FIG. 1) post76 projecting downwardly (again, upwardly in FIG. 4) from the undersideof upper piece 42 towards lower piece 40 (FIG. 5), with an outwardlyextending flange 78 at the distal end of post 76. Post 76 is sized to beapproximately as long as lip 58 is thick, and flange 78 is dimensionedto project through locking opening 56 when lower and upper pieces 40, 42are being joined for locking, and then extend under lip 58 when the twopieces 40 and 42 are rotated with respect to one another, therebylocking them in place. This process will be described below.

Upper piece 42 further includes at least one rib 80 on the interior ofside wall 66 of upper piece 42, and a cutout 82 on the lower endthereof.

Referring now to FIG. 5, further structural detail of the underside oflower piece 40 is now visible. Specifically, lower end 44 thereofincludes a notch 84 sized and positioned to receive rib 80 of upperpiece 42 when the two pieces 40, 42 are conjoined. This may be seen bydashed lines 86. It may also be seen that tab 62 includes a wall portion88 terminating in a lip 90 at a distal end thereof. Tab 62 is sized andaligned with cutout 82 in upper portion 42 so that, when lower and upperpieces 40, 42 are aligned for joining them, lip 90 fits into a portionof cutout 82 (as seen in FIG. 5). The alignment of locking post 74 andlocking opening 56 is shown by dashed lines 94.

To lock lower and upper pieces 40, 42 together, they must first bealigned as shown by dashed lines 86, 92 and 94. The user then snapslower and upper pieces 40, 42 together and rotates one of them withrespect to the other. This is illustrated by the movement indicated byarrow 96, which shows a clockwise (when viewed from the underside)rotation of upper piece 42 with respect to lower piece 40. It will beappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the direction ofmovement is arbitrary, and is governed by the relative positioning ofthe components of lower and upper pieces 40 and 42, and as such is amatter of design choice.

It will also be appreciated that this movement may be accomplished bymoving either piece 40, 42 with respect to the other, or by moving bothpieces. In practice, however, since upper piece 42 substantially coverslower piece 40 when in use, it is likely that the user will find iteasier to impart rotational movement to the exterior piece, i.e., upperpiece 42.

To accomplish the movement, it will also be necessary for rib 80 to bedisengaged from notch 84, which may be accomplished by slightly bendingupper piece 42 outwardly and then rotating upper piece 42 in thedirection shown by arrow 96. If the user rotates upper piece 42 to theposition shown in FIG. 6, the open position, rib 80 will contact a firstside 98 of tab 62, and lip 90 which acts as a stop on the rotationalmovement of pieces 40, 42. Alternatively, as a matter of design choice,first side 98 of tab 62 may contact a first side 100 of cutout 82.Either way, the rotational movement of pieces 40 and 42 is limited toplace lid 14 in its open position. In this position, drinking openings52, 70 are aligned allowing the free passage of liquid therethrough, andair openings 54, 72 are likewise aligned, allowing the free returnpassage of air therethrough. In this position, locking opening 56 andlocking post 74 are also secured together, keeping lower piece 40 andupper piece 42 locked together. In this condition, barrier 64 (shownpartially in dotted line in FIG. 6) acts to surround and seal offdrinking openings 52, 70 and air openings 54, 72 to permit the user todrink comfortably while preventing undesired leakage of the liquid beingconsumed.

The user may also rotate upper piece 42 to a position intermediate theopen position shown in FIG. 6 and the releasing position shown in FIG. 5to a closed position (FIG. 7) in which drinking openings 52 and 70 andair openings 54 and 72 are out of alignment, in which position no liquidmay flow through lid 14 and barrier 64 will prevent leakage. In thisposition, for example if a second end 102 of tab 62 contacts a secondside 104 of cutout 82, there will be a stop which serves to preventfurther rotational movement of pieces 40, 42 before pieces 40, 42 get tothe releasing position (FIG. 5).

The travel cup thus described is easy-to-clean, and easy-to-operate andallows a user full control over the access to the liquid in receptacle12.

In the preceding Detailed Description, reference was made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this disclosure, and inwhich are shown illustrative specific embodiments of the invention. Inthis regard, directional terminology, such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”,“right”, “front”, “back”, etc., is used with reference to theorientation of FIGS. 1-3 while the remaining figures are viewed fromtheir respective undersides and so the terminology would appear “upsidedown” with respect thereto. Because components of embodiments can bepositioned in a number of different orientations, the directionalterminology is used for purposes of ease of understanding andillustration only and is not to be considered limiting.

Additionally, while there have been shown and described and pointed outfundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the devicesillustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, itis expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/ormethod steps which perform substantially the same function insubstantially the same way to achieve the same results are within thescope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized thatstructures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described inconnection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may beincorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form orembodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention,therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A travel cup comprising: a receptacle includingan interior for holding a liquid, an exterior, and an open top; and alid for selectively closing said top of said receptacle, said lidincluding a first piece for engaging said open top of said receptacle,said first piece having an impermeable portion which blocks the passageof the liquid therethrough and a first opening for allowing the passageof the liquid therethrough, and a second piece having an impermeableportion which blocks the passage of the liquid therethrough and a secondopening for allowing the passage of the liquid therethrough, at leastone of said first piece and said second piece being movable with respectto the other of said first piece and said second piece, between an openposition in which said first and second openings align to allow passageof the liquid therethrough and a closed position in which said first andsecond openings are not aligned, thereby blocking passage of the liquidfrom said interior of said receptacle to said exterior of saidreceptacle.
 2. The travel cup of claim 1, wherein said receptacle isgenerally cylindrical in shape about an axis, and said open top islocated at a top end of said cylinder.
 3. The travel cup of claim 2,whereby at least one of said first piece and said second piece may berotated to align said first and second openings and allow the passage ofthe liquid therethrough.
 4. The travel cup of claim 3, wherein saidfirst piece further includes a third opening for allowing the returnpassage therethrough of air when liquid passes through said firstopening; wherein said second piece further includes a fourth opening forallowing the return passage therethrough of air when liquid passesthrough said second opening; and wherein said third and fourth openingsare positioned to align when said first and second pieces are in saidopen position and are out of alignment when said first and second piecesare in said closed position.
 5. The travel cup of claim 3, wherein atleast one of said first and second pieces further includes a stop tolimit the relative rotation of said first and second pieces.
 6. Thetravel cup of claim 5, wherein said stop includes a first stop forlimiting the relative rotation of said first and second pieces when insaid open position and a second stop for limiting the relative rotationof said first and second pieces when in said closed position.
 7. Thetravel cup of claim 3, wherein said impermeable portions of said firstand second pieces are configured so that they do not interfere when saidfirst and second pieces are rotated between said open and closedpositions.
 8. The travel cup of claim 7, wherein said impermeableportions of said first and second pieces are positioned to provide theminimal amount of clearance necessary to accommodate relative rotationof said first and second pieces without interference therebetween duringrotation.
 9. The travel cup of claim 1, wherein at least one of saidfirst and second pieces further includes a stop to limit the relativerotation of said first and second pieces.
 10. The travel cup of claim 9,wherein said stop includes a first stop for limiting the relativerotation of said first and second pieces when in said open position anda second stop for limiting the relative rotation of said first andsecond pieces when in said closed position.
 11. The travel cup of claim1 wherein said first piece further includes a third opening for allowingthe return passage therethrough of air when liquid passes through saidfirst opening; wherein said second piece further includes a fourthopening for allowing the return passage therethrough of air when liquidpasses through said second opening; and wherein said third and fourthopenings are positioned to align when said first and second openings arealigned.
 12. The travel cup of claim 1, wherein said receptacle furtherincludes a band removably attachable to said exterior of saidreceptacle, and extending from said open top downwardly from said opentop, to permit the gripping of said band by a user without the userdirectly contacting said exterior of said receptacle.
 13. The travel cupof claim 12, wherein said band is removably attachable to said exteriorof said receptacle, said band being configured to prevent the passage offluid between said band and said receptacle.
 14. The travel cup of claim13, wherein said band is made substantially of platinum silicone. 15.The travel cup of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first and secondpieces includes a barrier which extends from a side of said at least oneof said first and second pieces towards the other of said first andsecond pieces and contacts a side of said other of said first and secondpieces which faces said side of said at least one of said first andsecond pieces and is configured so as to provide a seal against leakageof the liquid from said first opening to said second opening when saidfirst and second openings are not aligned.
 16. The travel cup of claim15, wherein said barrier includes a portion thereof which substantiallysurrounds one of said first and second openings located in said at leastone of said first and second pieces on which said barrier is positioned,and is sized to not interfere with the passage of fluid through saidfirst and second openings when said first and second pieces are in saidopen position.
 17. The travel cup of claim 1, wherein said first piecemay be rotated with respect to said receptacle into a disengagingposition in which said first piece may be disengaged from saidreceptacle.
 18. A travel cup comprising: a receptacle which is generallycylindrical in shape about an axis and having a top end located at oneend of said cylinder, said receptacle including an interior for holdinga liquid, an exterior, and an open top located at said top end of saidcylinder; a band removably attachable to said exterior of saidreceptacle, and extending from said open top downward a predetermineddistance from said open top, said predetermined distance being selectedto permit the gripping of said band by a user without the user directlycontacting said exterior of said receptacle; and a lid for selectivelyclosing said top of said receptacle; said lid including a first piecefor engaging said open top of said receptacle, said first piece havingan impermeable portion which blocks the passage of the liquidtherethrough and a first opening for allowing the passage of the liquidtherethrough, said first piece being generally circular incross-section, and having a first axis of rotation which is generallyaligned with said axis of said cylindrical receptacle; and a secondpiece having an impermeable portion which blocks the passage of theliquid therethrough and a second opening for allowing the passage of theliquid therethrough, said second piece being generally circular incross-section, having a second axis of rotation, and being sized tooverlie and substantially enclose said first piece when in use, saidfirst and second axes of rotation being generally co-linear; wherein atleast one of said first piece and said second piece is movable withrespect to the other of said first piece and said second piece, betweenan open position in which said first and second openings align to allowpassage of the liquid therethrough and a closed position in which saidfirst and second openings are not aligned, thereby blocking passage ofthe liquid from said interior of said receptacle to said exterior ofsaid receptacle; wherein at least one of said first and second piecesfurther includes a stop for limiting the relative rotation of said firstand second pieces when in at least one of said open position and saidclosed position; whereby at least one of said first piece and saidsecond piece may be rotated to align said first and second openings topermit passage of liquid therethrough.
 19. The travel cup of claim 18wherein said first piece further includes a third opening for allowingthe return passage therethrough of air when liquid passes through saidfirst opening; wherein said second piece further includes a fourthopening for allowing the return passage therethrough of air when liquidpasses through said second opening; and wherein said third and fourthopenings are positioned to align when said first and second openings arealigned.
 20. The travel cup of claim 18, wherein at least one of saidfirst and second pieces includes a barrier which extends from a side ofsaid at least one of said first and second pieces towards the other ofsaid first and second pieces and contacts a side of said other of saidfirst and second pieces which faces said side of said at least one ofsaid first and second pieces and is configured so as to provide a sealagainst leakage of the liquid from said first opening to said secondopening when said first and second openings are not aligned.